The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Wind Waker
by MarHeavenAngel
Summary: Link and Midna battle their way through the Temple of Time, they come across a curious hidden room, not on the map, in there they find a object that was forgotten by time. A gateway opens, pulling the two in, eventually awakening to find themselves in a world covered in water. Even stranger, they come across a young boy who bears a resemblance to Link, even sharing his name!
1. Temple of Time to Great Sea

**Chapter 1: Temple of Time to Great Sea**

**A/N: So yes, here is a fun awesome ongoing fic I wanted to cook up, because I always loved the whole timeline split idea but thought how cool would it be for the two later incarnations of Link to meet each other. Also while this story isn't romance driven, there will be ship teasing between TPLinkxMinda and WWLinkxTetra, just fyi.**

* * *

The air was dry. There was almost a dusty taste to the dry air as Link licked his lips to give them, even if only temporary, a slight soothing from the dryness. It was almost stuffy in this temple. Sure, it wasn't nearly as bad as when they went into the desert, or the dungeon that rested there (Link was quite grateful he didn't have the taste of sand in his mouth anymore), or the same dryness he felt from the bitter cold from Snowpeak...but there was still a stuffy dryness to it.

Each Temple, or dungeon or ruins, they all had their own feel to them. The forest temple, it was naturally cool, and the air thankfully wasn't dry. Death Mountain...well...that volcano spoke for itself (save for the rooms which surprisingly were actually slightly cool and had a dank feeling, thanks to the cool water). The Lakebed Temple, it of course was a bit chilly (though not as chilly as the ruins in Snowpeak, nothing was colder than that place), and the air was very moist and humid. The humid air felt practically sticky in some rooms.

As he traveled through the Temple of Time, Midna hiding out in his shadow, Link couldn't help but wonder what the next temple would be like. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, as he continued down the stairs through the doorway to the main room, two familiar statues in view, with the symbol on the floor similar to the birthmark on his left hand. Similar to the same mark that the Princess Zelda showed him on her own right hand, when she explained to Link that like him, she too was granted a power from the Gods...before she sacrificed herself for his dying companion...the one currently residing in his shadow.

Link forced his eyes shut, to block out that memory. He didn't want to think about how close he was to losing his trusted guide and companion. How frightened he was to see her in that state, or how distraught she looked when Zelda used her powers to heal Midna, vanishing from sight. Or how the Princess he just barely got to know, the Princess of their kingdom, just gave all that she had to Midna, no questions asked. How he never got the chance to thank her for the help she'd been to the both of them, even though Link was no more than a stranger to her.

No...he didn't want to think about that. And instead forced himself to focus on why he backtracked all the way to the entrance room of the temple in the first place.

Link used the Dominion Rod to move the statue, as he knew a Poe Ghost was behind it, when they first entered this Temple of Time.

When they just barely went through the temple...when they were in the room that came after the temple entrance, he transformed into a wolf to use his senses to discover that one other statue was missing in that previous room...but it was then, Link could smell there was a Poe not too far away, from the direction he knew the temple's entrance was, even from that room. It was faint, but he could never forget the stench of a Poe. Even if he can't smell their trails, he'd recognize that rotting smell anywhere. (Though their scent was nowhere near as bad as the stench of the undead creatures that lurked about in the Arbiter's Grounds in the desert).

He knew he had to go up and get the Big Key to fight the monster that no doubt was hiding somewhere behind the large doors (as they always are), somewhere in this temple.

But he felt terrible for Jovani. He nearly collected enough to free the man entirely from his golden fate, but it wouldn't kill Link to kill the last one (he assumed) that was hidden in this temple...just to obtain another Poe Soul to add to the collection he had already, in order to free the man.

Midna was slightly annoyed with the backtracking, but she didn't mind too much since they were almost completed with their mission here to get a shard of the Mirror of Twilight, plus she was impressed with how handy the Dominion Rod had been for them.

Using the item that was the embodiment of the curse Zant previously placed upon him, Midna turned Link back into a wolf again, so he could fight the ghost.

He made quick work of the Poe and retrieved the fragment of the soul he needed. Midna turned the blue-eyed beast, back into his true human form again. However instead of hiding back into Link's shadow as she normally does in his human form, she was inspecting the area that was behind this statue, where the Poe was hiding before they destroyed it.

"Midna is something the matter?" Link walked a couple of steps forward to the floating imp who was inspecting the back of the wall of the little area the statue previously blocked off.

"Look, see this, it looks like the shape of the item you got." Midna pointed out something that indeed was shaped like the Dominion Rod.

"Yeah, I do...that's odd." Link started to inspect it himself, as he placed his hand on the wall around it.

"Well...?" Midna tapped his shoulder.

"Well what?" He blinked.

"Use your Rod, I mean it obviously means something." She instructed, a curious gleam twinkled in her eye.

The blond resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the female imp. Usually Midna berated him for getting curious and inspecting the temples for any other items and treasures—that weren't weapons, or maps or keys. But now, here she was, being all curious herself.

Then again, they often would discover many interesting or helpful things pressing forward, even if they had no idea what to expect. So while Link was sure the key to get to the big boss monster that was lurking in this temple was somewhere…looking at what was in front of him had to be important. Link was positive it had to mean something.

_"Why else would it be here?"_ He pondered, then shrugged and added out loud, "Yeah, alright."

He held up the Dominion Rod to the carved out shape that was in the wall, sure enough, when Link inserted the item, the area around it began to glow, as did the wall. Midna kept both her hands firm, holding onto Link's right shoulder, as they both watched with fascination as the wall vanished with the light; the Dominion Rod fell to the ground.

Link bent down, scooped up his item, and then turned to his Twili companion when he rose back up...curiosity was even more evident in her face. Link would be lying if he didn't feel that he was now growing more intrigued by the second.

He double-checked the map and...the area _wasn't even on_ the map for the temple, well it just became more interesting to him when he noticed that. Link shoved the map back into the pouch with all the letters he had neatly folded. (Though he got rid of the letters he felt he didn't need anymore and left most of them at home, same with most of the maps he retrieved from the temples and dungeons he visited.)

There was a dark hallway that appeared to lead to an even darker room. The hallway wasn't too far back, but it was far back just enough that the outside light from the temple decreased so that when they finally entered the room Link could barely make a silhouette out of the room (not completely pitch black, but still hard to see). The room in question, was not too large from what he could make out, it appeared to be no larger than Link's basement room back at his home in Ordon Village.

Link motioned for Midna to switch out one of the items he currently was holding at the moment for another.

It was pretty nifty, there was no way Link would be able to carry everything he obtained, especially with all his little pouches, but Midna cast a spell on them. Just as she held the items for him while he was a wolf, she created a similar pocket dimension or whatever it was she called it...the same way for his pouches, when he was human. The pouches can hold quite a lot of space, more than those tiny pouches could actually hold. He would just need Midna's help to pull something out, and replace something else he was currently holding, or use her magic to switch out from his clothes to either of his other armors he received. (He did only have two arms, those pouches at his side, and he can't carry all his items with just that alone. Especially not that heavy Ball and Chain, or the Iron Boots, unless he wanted to constantly wear those, and no thanks he didn't.)

She switched out his bow and arrow with the lantern; the Dominion Rod, Link instead slid into the side of his belt, as he used the lantern to get a better view of the dark room. Luckily there were two torches to the left side of the room. When Link lit them both, a chest magically appeared in between them as they have before when Link had done that in other temples and caves.

Midna peered over Link's right shoulder again, she appeared to become increasingly intrigued by the second.

"Hey Midna, can you put this away and pull out my bow and arrows again?" Link motioned for her to switch the two items out again.

Seeing as how now that the room has some light, he felt he didn't need his lantern out. The imp-girl directed an annoyed pout at him, obviously more curious to see what was inside that chest.

"I didn't hear a please, where are your manners?" She questioned teasingly.

Link frowned and raised a brow at her, slightly annoyed, but she just smirked as she watched the young man sigh.

"_Please_, Midna?" Link asked sarcastically.

"I suppose that's good enough, though you should work on your sincerity." She giggled.

Link rolled his eyes, but she did switch the two items out. He moved the bow so that it was around his shoulder, while the rope that held his arrow quiver around his other shoulder, as the quiver rested behind his shield.

He squatted down, as he could feel Midna hovering over his shoulder again, quite curious to see what was in there.

"If it's just going to be more rupees, I'll be very annoyed." Midna mumbled with a mild vexation in her tone.

He silently chuckled hearing her say that, but didn't comment, as he moved to try to open the treasure chest. But...the chest wouldn't open, there was a lock on it.

"That's strange." Link inspected the lock.

Most of the treasure chests he's ever opened either were unlocked, had no lock, or they magically unlocked because of some puzzle or another that happened. This one was locked good and tight, no matter how many times he picked at the lock. Needless to say, Midna became annoyed again.

"Just great...we came all this way for—"

She stopped mid-sentence, which caused Link to turn around and see the imp-girl had no longer been hovering over his shoulder. She was now at the back wall of the room. It was only then Link realized, the back wall, it looked like a stone door almost; one that didn't open, completely sealed off, judging by how Midna tried to have it opened and it wouldn't budge for the little Twili. He also observed that the stone was a different color than the wall around it, the large stone-cut shaped door...was a blue-ish color almost, while the stone all around it was gray.

She glanced over at Link, and motioned with her eyes for him to come over and try to budge it. He let a breath of air escape through his lips, rubbed the back of his neck and got up to his feet, complied with his Twili companion's wishes. But like the lock on the chest, the strange door wouldn't budge an inch either...which made Link half wonder if it wasn't a door, but a wall.

Although it couldn't be, it quite clearly looked like a stone door, and there was an interesting carving all across it. The carving that covered this entire door...it sort of looked like...well, it looked the Sun. There was a circle in the top center of the door, triangle-shaped carvings lined underneath the bottom of the circle, and sun rays that were carved in all around the door shooting out of the circle.

"Hey what's this?" Midna floated over to the right of the door.

There was...there was something carved into the wall right next to the door. They were these lines, with circles all in them, reminding Link something of music notes. Underneath that, were what looked like to be words carved into the stone wall.

"Link, can you make this out?" The Twili imp asked as she glanced back at the Hylian.

That was when Link remembered that Midna couldn't read Hylian. He taught her a little of it, but she saw no need to learn how to read it when he could do it for her when they were in all the temples and dungeons.

"Well..." Link trailed off as he looked at the words carved into the wall.

There was several, it looked like someone written down a complete instruction for...for something...or it was a message. The young man scrunched up his nose, as he narrowed his eyes slightly, held his chin with his left hand while he observed the carvings with much attention...but confusion and even a tiny ounce of tension was etched into his face.

"What's wrong?" Midna leaned her left elbow against his right shoulder as she peered at his expression.

"I—I can't really understand this. I think...well this must be some form of ancient Hylian. I mean these...I think they're letters—it does look a bit similar to ours, but...it's practically gibberish to me." Link's frown became heavier.

He lowered his brows and still held onto his chin, while his thumb tapped against his jaw, as he continued to observe with intensity what he felt was basically scribbling, at that point.

"Well...this word up here...I think, it kind of looks like the word, "_other"_—but I'm not that certain. This word...the one over here—it kind of looks like the word, "_connect_." Oh—this word down here, it kind of...kind of looks like the word, "_song"_. And you know what—this word, that's right by the word that looks like _song_...it kind of looks like how we write the word, "_time". _Actually, it's all over the place in this—the word that looks like _time_...I can see it about five times in all this jibberish." Link explained.

"Weird—wonder what in the world all that means?" Midna shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Even though he was responded to her comment, Link didn't glance at her as he spoke, as he still kept his attention at the ancient Hylian-carved words in front of him. Link ran his eyes over and over, the last line in this message, that had the words that looked similar to _song _and_ time_.

"Song...time?" He mumbled, as he continued running his gaze over and over again at those two words.

He looked back up to what was above all the writing, then he realized—it probably was notes—it was music if he had to bet.

_"That's what the "song" part must mean...right?"_ He questioned into his thoughts.

Midna then started to inspect that same part too, and she must of come to the same conclusion, as she ran her tiny hands over the lines and circles, carved to look like musical notes into the wall.

"Time song...? Hmmm...a song of time?" She mused out loud.

But right when she uttered those last three words, they heard something fall to the ground. They glanced over and noticed, the lock on the chest, it somehow unlocked itself.

"I think you found the magic words Midna." The Hylian blinked as walked back over to the chest and crouched down.

"I suppose it's a gift." Midna shrugged, and then watched with anticipation as Link opened the chest.

Inside, there was a small object. It was blue, it looked as though it was never touched, not a speck of age on it...despite who knows how long it had been in this temple.

"What is it?" Midna asked.

"It's—" Link reached in and pulled the object out so they both could get a better view of it, "It's an ocarina."

"Hey, I bet this will open that door!" Midna grinned.

"Weren't you the one who said we can't dwaddle for too long because there is a Mirror Shard we need to get?" Link asked his Twili comrade and guide, in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey now, we're not just warriors...we're also explorers, we've come this far, we might as well see what lies behind this door." She crossed her arms and grinned, "Also isn't that cute...you've become more sarcastic as of lately, I think I'm starting to rub off on you."

He quickly rolled his eyes and chose to ignore her last comment.

"What makes you so sure this will open the door?" He asked instead.

Link walked over back to the inscription where the notes and ancient words were carved.

"Well I mean saying a couple of magic words opened that chest, which talks about a song, and there are notes and all that good stuff. So we might as well see if it opens the door, but I got a good feeling it will. Besides, that instrument is the same color as the stone of this door!" Midna gave an imp-like smile, confident she was on the right hunch.

He had to admit...it had indeed made sense, especially after she spelt it out like that—the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Nothing he could think of would refute that her hunch was wrong. The only way to see if she was right was try it out, and if nothing happened then they will realize it was meant for something else, and just continue on with the temple...and come back later if it's important enough.

"Alright..." Link breathed.

He glanced at the notes and memorized how it went. When he was confident he had it memorized completely, he went to step in front of the blue stone door that refused to open, and placed the ocarina to his lips. He took a large breath in, through his nostrils...and started to play the song.

It was...strange...as he played that song (called the Song of Time, which was safe to assume). There was something oddly..._familiar_, about it. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something in his bones told him, he's heard the song before, and this ocarina...yes, something felt very familiar about it too.

He couldn't figure out why, everything in his mind told him that this was the first time he's ever laid eyes on the ocarina...the first time his ears ever heard the tune of this song. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had heard (and seen) all of it before.

When Link pulled the ocarina away from his lips, for a few couple of seconds it seemed like nothing happened. But it was after the momentary pause, that the circle—the Sun carving—on the door, it began to glow. As did the ocarina, they both glowed in unison. The ocarina pulled itself out of Link's hands and floated over to the door. To Link's shock...the door, had absorbed it, as if it was liquid.

The door then began to shine rather brightly. It grew brighter and brighter, both Link and Midna covered their eyes from the blinding light. The light...it felt like it was _pulling_ them in!

It wasn't like when Midna teleported him, or when he was pulled into the Twilight. No, it was a prickling sensation that slowly but surely filled every cell in his body, then everything felt like it was stinging...like it was burning. He couldn't hold it back anymore, as he began to growl, his voice gradually increased in volume, to scream at the pain he felt. Midna next to him, she too was screaming in pain.

Even though it was too hard to see thanks to the blinding light...Link grit his teeth as he held back his screams of pain, opting to hiss through his gritted teeth, at his pain instead...as he felt his concern for Midna outweighed any concern for himself. Midna, even though she could now live in the Light Realm without getting hurt by their light, thanks to Princess Zelda...she was still a being of Twilight. Who knows what effects this could have on her in the long-run. He certainly didn't want to test them out.

He reached over and grabbed Midna by the arm, pulling her close to him, holding onto the imp-girl tightly.

He tried to stand his ground, but he couldn't...his body felt so exhausted already trying to fight this pain. Just as he felt his knees buckle, and the rest of his being become more limp, he still held onto Midna tightly, he was still somehow able to turn his body around. He couldn't pull away, but he managed to at least pull Midna immediately from view from the blinding light, shielding her from it with his own body.

"Link...?" Midna moaned through her pain, clutching to his shirt tightly.

Link couldn't pull himself away from the light though. He felt his vision become fuzzy, dizziness started to take hold, eventually, he could feel himself start to black out.

And that was the last thing he remembered before he felt the sensation of being sucked into a vortex.

* * *

Link felt incredibly sore. Every muscle in his body just ached, even stung a bit...and he could feel a splitting headache, scream through his head.

"...nk?! ...ink?!"

Wait...there was a voice? Yes someone was calling out to him.

It was then, Link realized, something was amiss. He distinctively remembered being in the stuffy temple, where the air was dry and a bit dusty. But the air felt humid all of a sudden, and he could feel a cool breeze though, something he was laying on...it was being rocked back and forth. The scent of saltwater, it filled his nose. And...his clothes, yes...they felt very damp, his skin felt itchy under the wet clothes, it was quite uncomfortable. And his hair clung to his skin, still moist and damp as well.

"...L...nk?! ...Link?!"

Midna?

That had to be Midna's voice!

Link forced himself to snap his eyes open. He shot his head up but instantly regretted that action, as he grabbed his forehead with one hand, the other across his chest, as he doubled over in pain, he groaned through clenched teeth. Link had his eyes shut tightly as he felt the splitting headache only grow worse. His body shouted at him from every inch that what he just did was a terrible idea.

It took him a moment to notice but there was someone there with him. He could feel someone wrap their arms around him, crouching down as they rested his head against their shoulders.

This smell...it was familiar to him. He could smell it even amongst the scent of the saltwater that practically filled his lungs. The person cradling him, rubbed the back of his head, and shushed him lightly, as he finally felt himself calm his breathing (which he didn't even realize he'd been breathing so hard till just now).

Yes...he knew this person, this was someone he could trust, even in his disorientated brain, he let his body relax in this person's arms at that thought.

"That's it Link...just relax. I'm glad you're awake now but you need to take it easy. You took quite the shock to the system." A woman's voice spoke.

Midna? Yes, that was Midna's voice. Link forced his eyes open again, he blinked several times until his fuzzy vision became more clear.

Waves...a wooden raft? He was sitting on a wooden raft, the waves...a sea? An ocean?

He didn't remember being near either of those things. It was night time, he could see the clear sky, the moon bright and full. But that wasn't right, when Link went into that temple, it was during the day...and the night before, the moon had only been a half moon, not a full one. He glanced around carefully, as his body was still sore and his mind still ached something awful, he didn't see his Twili-imp companion anywhere.

But he did glance up and see the woman holding him. She wasn't...she wasn't like any being he's ever seen, but this tall being who was watching over him, definitely had a shape and anatomy very similar to humans.

She had deep orange colored hair, which practically glowed in the light of the moon, it was styled around her neck and tied off, almost as if her hair was a necklace. She had a black hood on, that draped over her shoulders, and there was some sort of silver ornament on the top of the hood. Link looked up and down, as she had multicolored skin on her legs, and arms. Black and a light blue, and there were markings on various parts of her skin that glowed almost a teal color...the skin on her face was light blue like most of her, and her lips were a shade of purple.

And her eyes...there was something familiar about those eyes. Where normally the areas in his eyes would be white, this woman...those areas were a yellow color. And the irises around her pupils, they were a deep shade of red. Even though he'd never seen a being like this woman before, Link had to admit...she was beautiful.

There was something _"other-worldly"_ about it, in her features...but there was no question the woman was indeed pleasing to the eyes. He wasn't one to really ever let himself get distracted by those things. Nor did he pay too much attention, he was too busy trying to save his world from falling into darkness for eternity to allow himself to think about or let himself notice any pretty face he might come across.

He continued to blink and stare at her, wondering why she seemed so familiar to him. The woman in question, just smiled down at the very confused young man, continuing to support the disoriented blond in her arms.

Where was Midna though? Link could have sworn he heard her, was she hiding in his shadow again?

"How are you feeling right now Link?" The woman asked.

Link felt his eyes widened, his eyebrows rose high, his jaw dropped slightly, as he gazed up at the woman in disbelief.

That voice...he only just now realized it just now (probably thanks to his disorientation) but that was Midna's voice. He attempted to say something, but found no words escaped from his throat, he just continued to sit there, gawking like a fool.

She lightly chuckled, "Yes wolfy-boy, it's me, Midna."

When Link learned she was the true ruler of the Twilight Realm, and that Zant cursed her and cast her out, stealing her throne...he never really thought much about what Midna truly looked like. (Though if Princess Zelda was any indication, it must be standard for royalty to look elegant and beautiful.)

"Uh..." Was all he could stupidly muster out of his voice-box.

He would slap himself for sounding so idiotic if he wasn't so sore, disoriented and also very shocked...not to mention quite taken aback. _This _was the _true form_ of the little snarky, sarcastic, bossy imp that ordered him around and forced him to carry her on his back when he was a wolf!?

She let out another airy chuckle, "What's wrong? Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?"

Link immediately cleared his throat, looking away slightly, he actually felt his cheeks get hot. He was quite annoyed, of course she had noticed him acting like a slack-jawed idiot and tease him for it at a moment's notice.

"I was—well, I was just surprised." He finally said, "I mean, so this is the real you?"

He wasn't looking at her at that time, but he noticed her nodding from the corner of his eye. Link just looked around at the expansive body of water all around them, the waves rocking the raft they were on, back and forth. Link could vaguely make out an island in the distance.

_"That island...there is something about that island...?"_ He thought to himself.

He shook off his momentary distraction, he felt so lost and confused.

Just what happened?

"Is your—is the curse Zant put on you broken?" Link looked back up at the figure before him that he was still trying to get use to calling Midna.

Midna gave a hard frown, a silent fury in her eyes.

"No...I can sense it, the curse is still on me, not all my powers have returned. No it's just...weakened, you could say. The physical part of the curse has weakened considerably that I am able to now appear before you as I am, my true form. We're somewhere far away, a plane of existence where Zant is nowhere to be found, for the curse to weaken considerably like this, though I would prefer if the part of the curse on my powers was lifted too." She answered.

She softened her agitated expression and gave Link a wry grin that he was all too familiar with when she was still in that little imp form.

"Though I suppose I can't complain, it feels good to be myself again, even if this is only temporary...the curse will no doubt return to its full strength when we return to our realm. But I still have the same level of magic you've been used to, so at least I still have that."

Link just nodded and continued to stare out into the distance at the island not too far away, before he pulled himself to instead glance back at the vast waters all around them, and the clear night sky with every star practically visible—the moon shining down so full and bright.

"The constellations—they look the same, but...they aren't in the same area of the sky as they were last night. And this place...where are we? What happened?" Link noted, as his expression turned more serious yet still confused.

Link leaned forward slightly, Midna carefully let him ease out of her hold; to make sure the blond male didn't overexert himself, watching him carefully.

"You can sit up fine on your own?" Midna asked, concerned still evident in her voice as she watched Link grimace a bit.

"I'll be alright, I just—just what happened Midna?" Link rubbed his forehead in an attempt to ease the migraine that still plagued him.

She let out a sigh and crossed her arms, the fingers of her right hand tapping the elbow of her left arm.

"I've been trying to figure that out myself. Well, I can tell you that, _thanks_ to you," She added that last part with a slight smile on her lips, "I wasn't to seriously injured from whatever it was that pulled us in. You took the brunt of the blow from that light when you shielded me. I was a bit sore, but I've been a fast healer ever since—"

Link noticed a pained expression of guilt on Midna's face...she didn't need to say it, he knew she had thought about Princess Zelda sacrificing herself for the Twilight princess. Link almost wanted to reach out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but for some reason he stopped himself from doing so. (Then again he still had the sore and aching problems, so just moving, even slightly, made him wince).

Midna closed her eyes, exhaled a breath of air from her nose, when she opened them again she regained her composure.

"Anyways...we were falling from the sky, it was then I noticed I regained my true form, when we fell in this ocean, I managed to pull your unconscious body out, I found this raft, it was just abandoned and drifting at sea. So I figured it was a good—well, good and _only_ place—to lay you down until you regained consciousness. You've been out for a couple hours." Midna explained.

Link felt his expression soften, his eyebrows rose just slightly...Midna had been watching out for him all that time? And not only that, when he awoke, she supported him, and tried to help him relax, comforted him until he was fully conscious. He wasn't used to Midna being so...so thoughtful.

Although, ever since what happened after Zant had her mortally wounded from the Light Spirit—Midna has been far more patient, kinder, and even respectful. He realized, the more selfish person he met before, that was just a mask, like the one she wore as an imp. She was only behaving that way because she was ashamed of what happened to her. Because of what Zant did to her, it was her way of trying to be strong and ignore her shame and broken pride.

But still, Midna was Midna. Even if she suddenly dropped her more harsh attitude, she was still sarcastic and snarky. She was still bossy and very opinionated. She was still a prankster and mischievous. So her going out of her way to take care of him...well it just really spoke volumes about her character. Link fought back the little flush that wanted to creep onto his cheeks again from the thought that Midna actually went out of her way to watch over him and take care of him, no way was he going to let her see him blush again. (Not if he wanted to be on the end of her merciless teasing as per usual.)

"You finally began to stir, so I called to you, to make certain that you still had a functioning brain...I still need you after all." She stated in her usual teasing tone, any air of gentleness she previously had, she immediately swept away.

Link glared at her for that comment, but this time chose to ignore it.

_"Typical Midna..."_ He mentally grumbled.

He didn't believe for a second Midna watched over him only because she needed him to defeat Zant. Sure, probably when they first met, but after all the time they traveled together and everything they been through? No...sure Link didn't know Midna's thoughts or how she thought about her human comrade...but Link was confident she didn't see him as just a means to help her get what she needs to destroy Zant anymore. They were allies...comrades...companions...friends. He come to care about Midna and trust and respect her, and he knew, in her own way, she was the same with him.

But he kept that to himself, Midna wasn't one to get sentimental, and she would likely scoff or playfully tease at anything she deems sappy. The only time to have a tender or touching moment with Midna herself, is when she's in one of those rare moments where she herself is initiating the sentimentality. After all she can't roll her eyes at _"sappiness"_ when she's the one who started it.

Link rubbed the corners of both eyes, feeling a grain of sand or something stuck in those tear ducts, thankfully he managed to get rid of it.

"So to sum up—we have no clue where we are, right?" Link raised a brow at her, his tone dry.

"Yeah, I think that about covers it." Midna answered in an equally dry tone.

It got silent between them once more, the sound of the waves and the wind the only thing that entered into Link's ear. He winced again, feeling the headache become a migraine, as he felt slightly dizzy, but he stubbornly determined he wasn't going to pass out. So he just sat there, holding onto his head.

Midna had her hands up, ready to hold onto him should he start to pass out...but Link knew that was her way of saying he can hold onto her for support. He held up a single hand, he was fine...well okay, yeah he was in pain—everything was sore and ached, his muscles still stung a bit, especially when he moved. And that migraine wouldn't leave anytime soon. But he can manage fine.

"Midna, can you get me out one of my bottles, not the ones with the fairies...the one with...the Great Fairy's Tears." Link winced slightly through his soreness.

He had four bottles with him, two had fairies, one had lantern's oil, and the fourth had Great Fairy's Tears. Link didn't want to use up any of the fairies...he may need them, they still had no idea where they were, how to get back, or how long they'd be stuck there (wherever the heck_ "there"_ was).

He didn't want to waste the Great Fairy's Tears either, but maybe just a little tiny sip from it, will help him feel a bit better and heal him some.

Midna waved her hand and a bottle appeared into view from one of the pouches Midna cast her spell on. She pulled the cork out, and handed it to the young male, who was had still insisted on being stubborn, that he wouldn't let her help him take a sip of the magical drink. He noted she looked a mixed between annoyed and amused as he motioned that he can do this without her assistance. He was quite certain he could at least handle this much.

He took a small sip, and already he could feel a small surge of energy burst in him. The soreness in every muscle and bone began to lessen quite a bit, the slight stinging sensation in his muscles were nearly gone, thankfully. He still ached, but it wasn't as bad as a few seconds ago. He was also intensely grateful that the splitting headache had at least completely disappeared.

"That feels so much better already." Link sighed with a smile.

The green clothed-young man, handed the bottle to Midna, who made the item disappear back into his pouch. She gave Link a small grin, pleased to see that he at least appeared to look better, (or at the very least more comfortable than previously). He gave her a little nod, a slightly wider smile now on his face, a silent thank you.

They both then were distracted from that quiet moment, as they noticed a little boat slide up next to them. A man popped out from inside it, he was a rather odd looking man, but Link felt he at least appeared quite harmless, and he got the sense that this guy was probably friendly. The man with the odd-looking nose smiled at them, but Link noticed the man give Midna a strange look briefly before he resumed to a more pleasent smile and a welcoming wave. Though that didn't surprise Link that the man would give her a quick weird look, humans after all didn't really know much about the Twili or what they looked like.

"I noticed you two just drifting out here, did you need any help?" The man asked politely.

Link opened his mouth, but Midna cut him off instead.

"No we can manage for ourselves, thank you though."

Though her tone wasn't rude or hostile, (actually her tone sounded downright elegant and civil...he had to keep reminding himself that Midna was really a princess, but it was just odd to see it first-hand), Link couldn't help but notice she eyed the man with distrust.

"Are you sure? Well—alright, I suppose if you folks are positive you can handle yourselves. Well if you need anything, I'll be circling this island for all of tonight and tomorrow, my name is Beedle, I sell many useful items as well if you're ever interested. So stop by if you need anything." The man nodded.

The man turned to head back inside his little merchant boat, as that happened Link frowned, side-eyed the Princess of the Twili, before he gave a more determined stare to the back of this man named Beedle. If Midna was determined not to ask for help, Link at least was determined to try to find something out.

"Wait!" Link called out.

The man thankfully stopped and turned to give Link his attention...and Link could just feel that Midna gave a heavy frown towards the blond, but he ignored it.

"What can you tell me about that island over there?" Link jabbed his finger in the direction of the island that he felt his gaze, twice now, naturally was pulled too.

Like there was something there, something important...something in his soul told him that it was of importance, but he was still unsure why.

Beedle looked over to the island Link pointed at and smiled more cheerfully, "Why that's Outset Island. It's a little island, but it has the friendliest bunch of people on the sea. If you guys would rather not be hanging out drifting on that raft, then I definitely recommend going to stay on that island for shut eye. The people there are very hospitable and I'm sure would be willing to help if you asked."

"Thank you." Link lightly bowed his head from where he sat.

The merchant returned the sentiment, continued to smile, stated a _"You're welcome friends!"_ and a friendly farewell...before he returned to the inside of his ship.

Link finally glanced up and saw a look of disapproval from Midna, he frowned back up at her. (Though it was still hard to get used to the fact that the person he stared at was Midna.)

"What?" Link quirked a single eyebrow up at her, a tiny amount of irritation in his eyes.

"Link, I understand your frustration, being in this strange and highly unfamiliar place, but right now—you and I—we can only trust each other. We don't know where we are, how to get back, or even fully understand how we got here in the first place. So it's best if we try to keep to ourselves and try to solve what's going on quietly...unnoticed." She explained.

"Yeah well sometimes asking never hurt, and I wasn't asking him to help us—just asking about that island. I'd really rather not sleep on this raft and wake up finding out we're further drifted out to sea nowhere near a source of water that isn't salt, or food...or land for that matter." Link stated as he scratched an itch behind his right ear.

"I suppose...I hope you find a way to fix this. It is _your_ fault we're here." Midna uttered in a more deadpan tone.

"My fault? How is this my—if I recall you were the one who told me to play the weird song on the ocarina by that weird door!" Link glared at her.

"Details, details..." She shrugged, as if there wasn't a worry in the world.

It was weird seeing the mannerisms and hearing that voice (still) come from that body. It was a reminder to him that this was indeed Midna, but he was so used to her being that tiny imp creature, not this...tall, elegant-looking woman. It was..._odd_. But he was finally starting to feel himself get a bit used to the appearance of the woman next to him.

He let out another sigh, as Link's stare, once again fixated back to that island. He didn't notice Midna had turned to him, as she gave him a questioning look.

"You're staring at that island again with that weird look." She pointed out.

Link glanced back in her direction, before he glanced back at the island, he noticed he had been staring at it, quite a few times that evening. It was very strange, he felt like..._something_ was calling him to the island. Maybe the answers he and Midna tried to find, were on that island.

"Seems you're right..." Link mumbled, before he spoke up, "Well, let's not stay out here for too much longer."

* * *

**_-To Be Continued-_**

**Woooooo! That was** **quite the first chapter! It actually went a bit longer than I originally thought out, but there was several things I wanted to add in here and there!**

**Also yes, I think you don't actually learn Midna is the Twilight Princess until after you gather all the mirror shards...or something like that. But for the sake of this story, we're going to pretend Link finds out earlier, after they first discovered the shattered Mirror of Twilight.**

**So here we go, Midna and Link are now in the Wind Waker timeline, and our story of the two different timelines now colliding is beginning to unfold!**

**I wanna thank my buddy, coolman229 for agreeing to be my beta editor for this!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed it! You definitely have to tell me what you think! Reviews are awesome and greatly appreciated! (But flames are of the devil, no flaming, constructive criticism only, because only jerks flame people instead of trying to say something that would actually help an author improve.)**


	2. The Tale of the Hero

**Chapter 2: The Tale of the Hero**

**I'm surprised that this already got a recommendation on a zelda fanfic blog on tumblr when I only had one chapter out, lol. The reason I'm updating so soon fyi, is because I'm stressed beyond belief thanks to school and this is me trying to calm myself down...so enjoy?**

**Also this chapter will switch between pov's fyi. But I'll make it very clear on which Link it is so that way none of you will get confused.**

* * *

They were both exhausted. But using some of Midna's magic they managed to get to the little island safely. It was still so strange that every time in inhaled and exhaled a breath, it was saltwater air that entered and exited his lungs. It was something he wasn't very used to.

Link sighed to himself and scratched the back of his neck. Midna was still keen on not asking for help at that point, so Link and Midna snuck further away from the houses, and started to make camp.

But they still needed to find answers. After all, where would they start in this big world? They eventually will have to talk to someone to figure out at least where they were. But Link would argue with Midna about that later.

It was still odd for Link to see the woman next to him as he started to make a campfire, as...well as that little Midna he was used to bossing him around. He stared, taking in her entire slender and tall form (she was actually a head taller than him in her true form, another thing he wasn't used to, looking up at Midna when he talked to her) and just blinked, as he still tried to make his mind used to this now being the image of Midna in his mind.

Midna seemed to notice the attention eventually and gave him a rather coy, playful smile. He frowned and looked away immediately, hoping she didn't catch him blushing briefly because she noticed him staring and gave him that teasing grin in response to his staring.

"Is there a reason you keep staring at me? I never realized I was that beautiful…" The Twilight princess smirked through her playful tone.

Link frowned at her, but instead of giving into her retort he just calmly replied, "It's weird, I'm not used to seeing you like...well like this."

"Yes, I am a work of art." Midna winked.

Link just rolled his eyes, and tried to tell himself he was not blushing again because of her. He was used to her teasing, and playful flirting out of jest...just to mess with him. But not...well that was completely different when she was just a little imp-girl.

He wanted to say how they needed to talk to someone tomorrow but he knew she'd just protest saying it would be safer if they tried not to get others involved. It was weird. When it came to the Fused Shadows or Mirror of Twilight Shards, Midna was all for Link trying to ask others for any help or information or clues they could use.

He knew she wasn't the type to trust easy, but this was not like her. He figured she'd jump at the chance of Link trying to figure out what was going on, if only to find a way to send them home as quickly as possible to resume their mission. She was obviously worried about something but was being annoyingly in the dark about what it was that had her so suspicious.

But Link knew he'd have to do something to try to find out where they were. They have to talk to someone eventually, whether Midna liked it or not.

Link was beyond exhausted though, and still a bit sore. He flopped down into the grass, which actually felt really nice. It tickled his checks as he relaxed. The sounds of the waves, the crackle of the fire...it was calming and easily helped him ease into sleep.

"Night Midna." Link said as he shut his eyes, letting exhaustion finally win.

* * *

He remembered climbing up there when the Sun started to rise. He loved doing that; it was one of his favorite things to do. Watching the sunrise then falling asleep as he watched it. He did it ever since he was small...well smaller.

The sound of the waves and the seagulls were like a perfect lullaby to help him nap. The color of the sky when the sun first started to rise was really pretty, especially the way it peaked over the horizon. He loved the smell of the saltwater, as he breathed it in and out like it was the most wonderful thing in the universe. The cool morning breeze tickled against his cheeks and ears, yes...this was his favorite thing to do, it was so soothing.

He didn't remember when he dozed off..but he did. He wasn't sure how long he napped in the shade of the lookout, but he hoped that it would never end.

"Big Brother!" He heard his little sister, Aryll, cry out.

He lifted his head lazily and turned it in the direction he heard her voice. Instead of the little girl he expected to see standing at the top of the ladder, smiley as can be, he did not, however, see his bubbly little sister. Weird, maybe he just dreamt he heard her voice?

He forced himself to his feet, the young blond letting out a yawn, and stretching his arms as far as he could. He should get up anyway. The morning sun was looking pretty bright and no doubt Link's grandmother would have breakfast ready by now.

"I knew you'd be here." He heard a little giggle behind him.

His eyes widened, slightly startled for a second. When did she get way over there so fast? He turned and gave his sister a small smile. He really shouldn't be surprised, she always came up here to find him and wake him up from his morning naps.

"You always come out up here every morning. But that's okay, this is my favorite spot too! I love to gaze out to the sea, and see all the cute seagulls!" She beamed, her little pigtails swayed back and forth in timing as she bobbed her head.

Link wasn't really paying much attention as she babbled about the lookout they were standing on, that she dubbed, _"Aryll's Lookout". _ He rubbed his eyes and let out a smaller yawn. He still wasn't sure exactly what time it was, he was basically still half-asleep at that point.

His younger sister must have noticed this, because she noted his half dead expression with slight amusement.

"So do you remember what day is today...? Brother—you're still half-asleep, aren't you?" Humor danced in her adorable, large, chocolate-brown eyes.

Today...what was today?

"Big brother Link, you silly...it's your birthday!" Aryll giggled some more.

Link scratched the back of his left ear...right...his birthday.

"That's why Grandma has been waiting for you to come back to the house. You've been making her wait for a while now. It's a good thing I came to find you. You should probably go home and see what Grandma wants...don't you think?" Aryll swayed back and forth, smiling as she looked up at her now-fully awake brother.

Link sighed to himself. He knew why Grandma wanted to see him. It's why he wasn't that excited for his thirteenth birthday. Why he probably so easily forgot about it. But he smiled and thanked his sister as he climbed down the ladder to see her anyway. It was rude to make his grandmother wait regardless of how he felt.

* * *

Link felt much better now that he got some rest. He wasn't as sore as he was earlier, a little bit, but not too bad. Just a little sip of the Great Fairy's Tears really helped him out a bunch. Now he supposed they would need to find something to eat. His stomach grumbled, and even Midna saw no problem with that.

They discovered though that, any curse of Zant's was weakened thanks to wherever they were. They tested out the item Midna kept a hold of, the one that was the embodiment of the curse Zant placed on him, and...nothing really happened. He didn't transform into a wolf. Link could feel a slight heightened of his senses (though not by that much), but his appearance didn't change at all.

A part of him wasn't too disappointed in that. While it was useful, he actually hated being in his wolf form, and only used it when necessary. It would have been more useful for him to sniff out food as an animal then as a human, but it was fine. Link supposed he would have an excuse to talk to one of the residents of this island anyway to ask for food and information.

Midna opted to stay by the campsite anyway, so Link was free to venture off.

Link finally neared one of the houses that was on the edge of this little island village, as he got close, he noticed a little boy walking toward it. Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling...the same feeling he got when he saw this island in the first place.

Was this kid the reason he felt like this island was calling out to him?

That's when he noticed something about the boy with the messy blond hair...this kid...it couldn't be a trick of his imagination, but...this kid...he looked very similar to himself when he was a child.

Sure there were differences, but the similarities were a bit striking.

The boy was talking to some local woman. Link decided to creep in a bit closer, as he hid behind some trees. For some reason, finding out who this kid was became idly important to him. He wasn't sure why. But he had this overwhelming need to know the name of this young boy.

"Well, tell your Grandma I said hello..." The woman this kid was talking to said, "Oh and before I forget, Happy Birthday, Link."

Link felt something drop into the pit of his stomach. He...he couldn't of misheard that.

He watched the young boy wave the woman goodbye and head into the house.

But he didn't pay much attention to that. Not to anything around him. The fact that there was a twig now stuck in his hair, nothing...

This...it couldn't be a coincidence right? He wasn't sure what this meant, but it had to be _some _sort of clue, even if it did only add even _more _questions to what was going on.

He just happened to spot a boy who looked similar to him as a child, and even shares his name? He wasn't going to let this go, he needed to get Midna. If she wanted to solve things quietly then fine. She'd have to put up with now shadowing a kid. But he had to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Several minutes passed and he managed to successfully drag Midna down over so they could spy on this house, hiding, waiting for the boy he described to his Twili companion to come out.

Midna of course, thought Link was being weird, but Link assured her when she saw the kid, she'd understand.

When the boy stepped out in a completely different outfit (one he didn't look pleased to be wearing) Link felt his eyes widen, he noticed Midna looked surprised too.

"...I see what you mean." Midna mumbled.

The boy was wearing an outfit, all too similar to the green garb that once belonged to a legendary hero, which he himself received from Faron.

"And one of the villagers here called him Link." He repeated to her.

"Yes—yes, I get it—this definitely can't be a coincidence." Midna tapped her chin.

"What do you think?" Link asked her.

"Well that inscription mentioned time a lot...does this mean we traveled through time?" Midna mused out loud.

"Yeah but to when? I mean if that's true, then is this the past? Or is this the future?" Link quirked an eyebrow, as they watched the boy head towards the direction of a lookout that was in the distance.

"No...it can't be the past." Midna shook her head.

Link raised a brow at her this time. She glanced at him, wordlessly pulled a twig out of his hair he didn't notice was there, before she began her explanation.

"Something about this place, it doesn't feel like it's a past life of your world. But at the same time, I don't sense it has the essence of your Light Realm...so...either your world dramatically changes in the future...or..." Midna trailed off.

"Or what?"

"It is a belief we Twili have...though I'm not certain if _that's_ actually the case here. We'll need to gather more information to see if this is just a future of your realm...our world. Or...or if it's some other alternate plane of existence entirely." She narrowed her eyes as she mumbled.

"What does that mean? I mean can you elaborate?" Link blinked at her.

She was certainly going back to being her cryptic self when he first met her. He thought she finally dropped that after all the time they spent traveling and fighting together. What did she mean by alternate plane of existence?

Well Link had it. He was going to try to talk to someone here to get answers. He gave Midna a hard frown and stared the Twili Princess down. She gave him an equally hard expression. She sighed, as she eventually broke eye contact.

"One person Link, but that's it, we don't want to attract too much attention. There is something not right here, and it's very unsettling, we need to be more cautious." She eventually relented.

"Okay, I give Midna—I'll talk to one person." Link sighed.

She nodded her head, then stated how she'd like to keep a low profile and stay out of sight, because it was safe to assume people have never seen her kind. (To be fair, no one in his realm had truly seen her kind until Zant started up trouble. But even then no one had seen what they really looked like, only Zant's Shadow Beasts and those insects.) She then disappeared into his shadow. Link was a bit taken aback, as he's never realized she could still do that in her true form.

He sighed, and decided to approach the woman the child was previously talking to.

"Sorry if I'm bothering you ma'am...but I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of things?" Link inquired politely.

"Oh hello, I don't think I've seen your face around here before." The kind looking woman smiled.

"Umm—yeah I suppose you could say I was ship-wrecked and adrift at sea, I sort of wound up here." Link lied. (Well only half of it was a lie, they were adrift at sea briefly last night.)

"Hmmm...did you come from this village before?"

Link realized the woman took into account his garb. And he mentally kicked himself for not switching out into one of the other outfits, granted the Zora's Armor and the Magic Armor were more...on the noticeable side, and Link did agree with Midna to try to keep a low profile until they figured out what was going on.

"Oh, uhh...no, I came from a land very, far—far away from here." Link scratched his chin.

"Oh I see, then your island must have similar customs to ours." She smiled.

"Hm?"

"You know, about the Legendary Hero who saved everyone from an unfathomable evil." The woman clarified.

Okay now this had Link intrigued. Legendary Hero? Clearly there had to be a connection.

"Oh well you see, we didn't have much information on all that. That's why, I...well I've been traveling. For our princess you see. She would like me to gather more information on the old tales, because we really don't have much recorded history."

Well that wasn't technically a lie, he was gathering information right now, at Midna's request, and well, from where he was from, there wasn't much information recorded about the hero he supposedly inherited these legendary clothes from.

"Oh a princess? Wow that sounds interesting, but I suppose that would make sense, after all so much history was lost after the Great Flood." The woman nodded.

"Great Flood?" Link blinked.

The woman stared at Link as if he said the most shocking thing ever. Link felt like a moron briefly, because it was clear what she was talking about was pretty much common knowledge, but it wasn't like he knew anything.

"Well, like I said, we don't have much history, and that's why my princess, she sent me out to go find as much information as possible since we don't have much recorded." Link lied.

Midna was probably cackling to herself. Link just willingly admitted to someone he was basically her servant, oh she was going to have a field day teasing him about this.

"Oh my that is most disconcerting—your poor kingdom. I can understand your princess's urgency...let me explain it to you as best as I can. All of us here know this tale practically by heart on this island." The lady gave him a sympathetic smile.

Link nodded his head, awaiting to hear this tale, now really intrigued...a Great Flood? Legendary Hero?

"Well long ago, there existed a kingdom that was said to hold a power, that was laid hidden...most described as a _"golden power"..._something left behind from the Goddesses who created this world, themselves." The woman started.

Golden power? Did this have anything to do with those triangles...that crest? The one that was a birthmark he had on his left hand, a similar mark appeared on Princess Zelda, she called it a power from the Gods that she was blessed with. The sages also stated that somehow...that man...Ganondorf, the one who gave Zant his horrible power...he too somehow had that same power.

"It was said to be a beautiful and prosperous kingdom. But one dark day, a great evil found that hidden power and seized it for himself. Using its power, he transformed the land, spreading his evil and darkness all across it...but there was still hope. For in that kingdom's darkest hour, a young courageous boy appeared, a young boy clothed in green. They said he wielded a blade, a blade that was evil's bane, and fought the evil man, and defeated him, peace being brought back to the land." The woman continued the tale.

So...this had to be the hero of legend that he was told about, the one he inherited this very garb from. And the blade of evil's bane? That could only be the Master Sword. Link did his best not to glance at the very same blade that was strapped to his back.

"This boy, who traveled through time to save the land...he's been known through the ages as the Hero of Time, and his tale was passed through generations. It is a custom on our island that when a boy becomes of age when he is leaving childhood behind...that he wears the same clothing inspired by this hero. We don't know the exact age of this hero when he first set out on his journey, but we know he was young, and it was adopted that all boys the age of thirteen go through this custom. It is a rite of passage here." She explained.

Link nodded, that part made some sense...but what caught his attention...was what she first stated. That this hero, traveled through time? Called the Hero of Time? The Temple of Time came back to his mind, that strange room, and ocarina...the door, the Song of Time. Clearly it all had to be connected to this hero in this story.

"What about this Great Flood you were talking about?" Link asked.

"Oh right—well several years of peace had passed, but one day a fell wind blew across the land. The great evil...that everyone thought had been forever sealed away by the hero had once again returned...eager to resume it's dark designs. The people believed their Hero of Time would return once again to save them. But the hero did not appear." The woman explained solemnly.

Link felt this pity in his heart for these people. Sure he wasn't there, but a part of him couldn't help but almost wish he was sent back to when this had happened…if only to be of some help.

The woman pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and continued.

"Faced with the onslaught of darkness and evil, the people had no choice but to appeal to the Gods. It seemed bleak, and doom drew nigh...but they left their future to the hands of fate. The Gods sealed the evil away...covering this land with water. But what became of this kingdom, no one knew...the memory of this kingdom survives only in legends now." She finished.

"Wow...that's...incredible." Was all Link could bring himself to say, "Thank you for telling me."

Link turned to leave but the woman stopped him.

"Wait—" She pointed out to a house they were in front of, there was a ladder to the side the woman was pointing to in particular, "You should go up and see Sturgeon, he has many books, I'm sure if you explain your story...he'll let you have a book or two of his, I'm sure your princess would prefer recorded history."

"Yes...I'll do that." Link smiled. (Probably he won't, he was supposed to be keeping a low-profile.)

"If you don't mind me asking, how come it is that you are dressed as the hero too, if your people don't know much about the legend?" She asked, keeping him from leaving.

"Oh..." Link wracked around his brain trying to come up with an explanation, "Well you see on our...island—the knights dress in this, to honor a legendary hero. We don't know much tales, but we heard of a legendary hero that fought off many evils that wore this garb, it's been a tradition forever that we didn't think much about it."

Yeah he was lying through his teeth but that didn't matter, he needed to catch up with that boy anyway. Just when he thought he was finally about to leave to go find that kid, the woman stopped him again.

"You know it has been bothering me, you look so familiar, but it just dawned on me, you look just like a grown up version of Marin's grandson, Link!" She smiled, "Are you by any chance related?"

Great...

"Ummm...I'm afraid I've never heard those names before," Ha, that was a big fat lie concerning the kid's name, not that she needed to know that, "I suppose it's possible I have relatives here and never even knew it. Anyways, I must be going."

He finally managed to get away from that woman who, while helpful, kept him talking longer than he wanted. He was supposed to be keeping his distance, and he really needed to find that boy to get more answers.

But this answered at least a few things...sort of. It created more theories at least.

"So...someone is my knight huh?" Midna giggled, as she popped out of his shadow, the tall woman smirking down at him.

"That's the first thing you choose to talk about?" Link grumbled in annoyance.

Of course after hearing that entire story she wouldn't forget Link saying that he's basically her servant, and of course she was going to tease him for it.

* * *

He climbed back up to the lookout, where Aryll would be waiting for him. He really didn't like this outfit. He understood why he had to. It was a tradition they've had for generations on this island. And he loved hearing the stories when he was younger, but...

He looked so out of place compared to everyone else on the island in this outfit, plus the outfit was so old-fashion. No one dressed like this these days—he felt a bit silly.

But it can't be helped, as all the adults say around him, _"it's a tradition"._

He honestly wouldn't be so bothered if everyone didn't tell him what an honor it was to wear this outfit when it was so hot outside today. Really that was his biggest beef, because it was hot and itchy and uncomfortable. Any other day he would only be mildly bothered with the fact that he had to "grow up". He'd be perfectly fine with getting over that and just accepting it. But did growing up have to include wearing something that was so uncomfortably hot and itchy?

Oh well, at least he'd have a nice party tonight. That should be fun at least. And his grandmother would be making a nice dinner and dessert too, and Aryll and the other kids would follow him around wanting to play games...so it wouldn't be too bad. It would just be better if he didn't have to wear this outfit all day.

"Oh, big brother, did Grandma make that outfit for you?" His little sister smiled at him as he finally reached to the top of the ladder, climbing in to greet her.

He just nodded, and did his best to not look uncomfortable, but that obviously hadn't worked.

"You look like you'd be way to hot in those clothes..." She gave him a look of slight pity.

"And it's itchy too." He frowned.

"Well they do look pretty neat though." She said with a more reassuring smile.

Well he didn't agree with her, he felt he looked silly in them, but it wasn't _that_ bad he supposed.

"I have something that will cheer you up big brother!" She brightened up, "Close your eyes and hold out your hand...just for a second!"

He smiled and complied, she obviously wanted to give him a present.

"I'm going to give you my most treasured possession, Happy Birthday Link!"

He opened his eyes and noticed she was holding out her telescope. She was actually giving this to him? She never shared this with anyone in her life...

"I'm letting you borrow this special gift because you're my favorite big brother!" Her smile brightened further.

"Aryll—I'm your _only_ big brother." Link laughed.

"And you have no competition to worry about in being my favorite!" She giggled, "So do you like it?"

He ruffled the little girl's hair and gave her a hug, she giggled in his embrace.

"Yeah, thanks Aryll, I promise I'll take good care of it, thanks for lending it to me."

"Goodie! Hey—why don't you try it out brother?"

She jumped up and down, all excited, Link felt he had to accommodate her now. He most certainly can't say no when she's being all cutesy and energetic like this.

"Okay, let's try looking at the house from here." Link nodded to her, as he held it up to find their house.

Link noticed the postman was there already, stopping by the mailbox in front of their house. The Rito tribe were so cool, after all…they could fly, they could fly anywhere. Something weird was going on though...the post man was flapping his wings like crazy as he hovered from the ground, he was panicked about something. His feathers flew everywhere. Just what the heck was going on?

"Link! Look up in the sky!" Aryll cried out next to him, she sounded scared.

Link jabbed her telescope into the direction his sister was frantically pointing at. There was...there was a giant bird. It looked pretty freaky. But it was holding something. He zoomed in and felt dread in his heart. It looked like a person!

That bird was carrying a person in its talons!

_"Crud, that person is probably going to be dinner for that monster-bird!" _He frantically thought to himself.

Wait...was that a cannonball?

No, now there were several. There were several firing at that bird, Link shifted his direction further and noticed a pirate ship firing at that large bird. That person, that bird must of nabbed, had to have been a member of that pirate crew, they were obviously trying to stop the monster-bird from eating their friend...if Link had to guess.

One of the cannonballs finally managed to strike the bird, the bird screeched in pain. From the cannon fire to the screeching of the bird, everything was so loud poor Aryll was covering her ears.

But it was then Link noticed, when the bird was struck, it dropped that person...finally freed from the grasp of its talon. Their limp body fell like a rag doll, as gravity pulled it down.

"Oh no! Link, that person is falling!" Aryll cried out in horror, as the watched the body fall into the wooded area at the top of their island.

* * *

**_-To Be Continued-_**

**I couldn't remember if Link and Aryll's grandma had a name (though I think she didn't), so I just named her Marin after the character from Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.**

**Also drew some fanart for this story! [http][:][/][/] .com[/]art[/]The-Legend-of-Zelda-Twilight-Wind-Wak er-387167805**

**Just removed the brackets from the link and you should be good to go!**

**But yeah, more stuff going on, and Tetra finally enters the story! **

**Thank you my beta editor, coolman229, for editing this for me :D**

**I'll be taking a brief break from writing any chapters to any of my fanfics though, because it's the final week of my summer semester coming up and then my little sister is having a wedding and then well, I am meeting up with relatives as I drive back with my dad, back home from school.**

**But anyways...**

**As always, let me know what you guys think! I certainly hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	3. Enter The Pirate Princess

**Chapter 3: Enter The Pirate Princess  
**

**This fanfic has not only been recommended on a Zelda Fanfiction blog on tumblr, but also in the LOZ fanfic requests on tvtropes as well?! Omg only 2 chapters were out and yet you guys recommended my fic already to other Zelda fans. I just...wow I'm really beyond flattered, thank you so much guys! And thank you for all the reviews so far everyone! It really does mean a lot to me!**

**Enjoy the Chapter!**

* * *

Link instinctively gripped onto the hilt of the Master Sword that was strapped to his back the moment he saw the monstrous bird. It had something in its grasp, but then his attention was drawn instead to the sound of cannon fire. A pirate ship trailed the bird, eventually striking the creature with one of the cannonballs. The creature let out a loud screech in pain, and released what looked like a person.

He couldn't exactly make out the limp body that gravity dragged down, into the patch of woods at the top of the island. But from what he could tell the person was small...a child?

The young Hylian's eyes widened as fear immediately seized his heart at that thought.

He also felt this strange pulse through his left hand momentarily, like something pulled him, it was different than the sensation he felt when he saw that boy. It was like a heartbeat, and it was being gingerly tugged at by some invisible thread. But he ignored the passing sensation; it wasn't on his list of priorities to be concerned over at that moment.

He and Midna were hiding behind a house across from the lookout. He glanced up at the princess of Twilight. They were following the boy around that looked similar to himself and shared his very name, but now all he could think about was that child that was in danger. He didn't even notice the boy they were shadowing, had already scrambled down the ladder of the lookout, and ran to some house on the other side of the island.

All he could think about was that tiny unconscious body, that helplessly was trapped in a monster's grip and then dropped from some great heights. No doubt there was nothing soft for their little body to land on.

He had to do _something_...he had to help_._

"Midna..." Link turned to the Twili woman.

Although he didn't finish his statement, his eyes pleaded with her. He didn't need to say it. She knew exactly what would be on his mind in this situation.

There was almost no expression on her face as she stared back down at her companion. She closed her eyes, took in a slow breath through her nose, and faced her head back up to the top of the island as she opened her eyes again.

"It's strange—" Midna finally spoke up, "I felt something almost..._familiar_, about that girl."

Girl? It was a young girl?

Link shrugged it off. It didn't really matter if Midna could make out the person's gender with her naked eye and he couldn't (besides, she was a Twili, they were a mysterious race that he didn't really know much about, and could just naturally have better eyesight compared to humans).

But what did she mean by familiar?

Then Midna turned to him, her eyes narrowed, slight confusion in her face. She reached down and grabbed his left wrist, pulled it up so that she could inspect the back of his left hand. The princess pursed her lips into a thin line; she seemed displeased and a bit more confused. She clearly didn't find whatever she had been looking for.

"Everything okay, Midna?" He blinked.

"Sorry, I thought I saw—Link, did you feel anything strange when you saw that girl?" Midna redirected.

He was a bit annoyed. He wanted to go aid that young girl. She was in the talons of that large bird and then dropped from the air into all those trees; she could be seriously hurt! But he knew Midna. She was getting curious to know the answers to the questions in her head, some of which it seems now has to do with that girl. Either way she'll want to investigate, meaning Link would be free to run to that young girl's aid.

"Yes actually—for a little bit I felt this strange sensation," Link paused, then frowned when he realized what he felt had something to do with what Midna just did, "...it was like a pulse, that pulled at me, in my left hand."

"I see..."

Midna looked back up, and placed her fingers on her chin. Link just sat in silence and waited for her to speak again. Though he was tired with waiting he still did.

"Link, we need to go investigate this further. Let's go save the girl, but we must be careful to not make a scene. The less people that see us the better." The tall woman instructed before she disappeared back into his shadow.

* * *

He was grateful for Orca's help and training, he always loved getting tips and sparring with the old man. But today he was in a hurry and anxious to just take the sword and go.

There were usually trees that grew in the way of the path to the top of the island, and he needed that sword. Thankfully Orca noticed his anxiousness and understood that the young boy had a need to get going.

He allowed Link to borrow the sword and wished the boy good luck.

They both bowed to each other, their customary way to say goodbye to each other anytime the young lad ever stopped by.

Link didn't much care for how hot and itchy he previously felt, and even though that really nice breeze made him feel more comfortable, he was more worried about that person who fell.

If it weren't for his earlier disappointment of wearing this silly outfit, and the fiasco going on right now, today would have been a perfect day. The sky was clear, there was hardly a cloud in the sky...and it was a beautiful bright blue! It was sunny, the temperature was warm but not too hot (unless you were wearing this silly outfit), and the breeze felt amazing. But in that moment he didn't feel like appreciating it.

However his thoughts and worries came to a halt, as Link tripped on the bridge (one of the wooden pieces was loose) and he plopped embarrassingly into the (quite cold) water.

He popped back up for air, spit some of the saltwater that entered his mouth, rubbed his nostrils and grumbled with slight annoyance.

_"On the bright side I'm not hot anymore."_ He thought with mild amusement as he brushed the wet bangs out of his eyes.

He was then distracted when noticed a school of fish nearby him. Three in particular caught his eye; there was a bigger fish with two little fish that followed it around. One of the two little fishes was slightly bigger than the other one, but still smaller than the bigger fish.

He smiled and couldn't help but think of a family. He let out a quiet laugh when he made comparisons to his own family. His smiling ceased when a seagull swooped down and managed to grab the littlest fish and carried it off. Link let out a small gasp as that happened while the school of fish went into a frenzy and swam deeper.

But not the other two fishes. The bigger fish, probably the mother or father, it just froze. It didn't move an inch; there was almost a sadness that radiated off it.

The other little fish, which was probably a brother or sister of the fish that got taken away, swam around the surface frantically. Occasionally it jumped out of the water, only to plop back in. Eventually it started to swim in the direction the seagull flew off.

The young lad felt pity in his heart. That fish wouldn't be able to reach the other little fish...it wouldn't be able to save its little brother or sister.

His frown grew heavier just from that thought.

The boy blinked and shook his head. He turned away and swam to shore...he couldn't get distracted. He had to go help that person.

He squeezed the water out of the hat quickly before putting it back on and started to run as fast as his skinny legs could take him. He pulled the sword out of his sheath; ready to cut down the rather fast growing trees that he knew always block that path.

His pace had come to an immediate stop, when he noticed that somebody had already hacked the little trees down.

"Is someone already up here?" He uttered to himself, as he rubbed some water drops out of his right ear.

But...he didn't see anyone with a weapon go in this direction.

He shrugged it off and placed the sword back into its sheath. It was probably Orca who cut these little, skinny trees. The old man did sometimes go up there to train around the crack of dawn, so this wasn't exactly that out of the ordinary.

"I gotta hurry." Link mumbled.

He stepped over the little stumps and hacked tree branches, then continued to trek forward...his clothes, while still damp, began to dry a little in the sunlight thankfully.

* * *

Link felt that strange pulse once again in his left hand, but the sensation disappeared just as quickly as it came.

What did it mean? Midna seemed certain it had something to do with that young girl.

"Link hold up...!" The Hylian heard Midna call out from within his shadow.

"What is it?" Link asked as he stopped.

"Someone's coming." Midna said.

Link could indeed hear footsteps headed their way.

He noticed a tree off to the right. It was fairly large, so he sprinted over and hid behind it. He popped his head around just barely, and noticed that young boy again. He came running up the path and didn't miss a beat even when he stumbled over a rock on the path. The kid just kept going and continued across a bridge, jumped over a gap in the bridge, and continued to jog forward to where Link knew that girl had fallen.

Once the kid disappeared inside, he saw that large bird, it was still circling around the island. It made a strange sound, it wasn't quite a squawk but it wasn't quite a howl...it was...something in between those two sounds.

"Stay sharp, it's clearly up to something." Midna instructed.

"Yeah, I know." Link nodded.

Suddenly six puffs of smoke appeared out of thin air in the sky. Smaller versions of that bird appeared out of the puffs of smoke, and they were all carrying something. Link quickly pulled out his hawkeye, glad that he got Midna to pull it out for him earlier (along with his bow and quiver full of arrows which was now strapped to his back along with his sword and shield).

They looked a bit different than from what he was used to, but...there was no question that these things these smaller bird monsters were carrying looked very similar to Bokoblins.

The young man grit his teeth and sprinted forward, as he saw them heading to fly into where the girl fell.

* * *

He managed to spot the person who fell. Thankfully they didn't have any signs of injuries, but they were unconscious. Luckily the clothes this young person was wearing were caught on a branch of a tree, so it seemed that saved them from hitting the ground.

That was when he took a moment to actually look more at the person rather than just check for any readily injuries.

It was a girl. A girl who looked about his age.

She had long ears, much like himself and sister and grandmother. Her skin was fairly tan and with her bright blond hair, pulled into a bun, her hair only stood out more because of how bright it was compared to her skin.

_"She's kinda cute..."_ He thought to himself as he blushed.

He pinched himself in the cheek and frowned, no time to get distracted by that! (But it's not like it was his fault that he got distracted by that, after all. All the kids on the island were younger than him. Nobody his age and certainly no girls his age.)

He realized it was too high for him to climb to the tree this girl was trapped in, luckily, it looked like there was a way to climb up there from behind it. While it was a bit tedious, he did make his way around.

He now faced a new problem...how was he supposed to get the girl down? She was up too high for him to reach, plus she was still unconscious. He really should of thought this through and asked maybe Orca to come with him—_no!_

No, he couldn't do that. Part of wearing this outfit was about becoming a man and leaving childhood behind. Sure he hated wearing this outfit, but he loved the stories behind it. He always loved them growing up.

And the hero this garb was inspired from didn't need to go get an adult (not to mention it would be irresponsible leaving this girl like this, she could fall from that branch and get hurt while he left). No, he'd be able to accomplish this fine.

He just needed to climb up there and carefully reach her and bring her back down is all.

He however heard movement...it seemed the girl woke up.

"Wh...Wha...Wait?! What's going on?!" The girl was now wide-eye awake as she struggled, while staring at the ground.

Link was about to cry out for her not to keep struggling like that because the branch would break, but it was too late for that. He heard a snap, the branch broke and the girl quickly tumbled down. Link dived forward in hopes of catching her.

Instead, she ended up landing right on him, her rear crashed into Link's left shoulder while her elbow collided with his forehead. They of course gave him a few stars dancing around his eyes for a second when they both fell down.

He shook the stars out of his eyes as he lifted his head, the girl now sitting on him. She didn't appear hurt; that was a relief at least.

"What in the—kid where the heck did you come from?" The girl climbed off him and stared him down, "And what's with that funny outfit?"

He just stared at her; she had really pretty green eyes, too.

"Hey I'm talking to you pipsqueak, and get off the ground like that, what are you some bum?" She raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

"Hey! I came here to rescue you!" Link shot up with defiance, "That bird had you in its talons and those pirates were firing cannons at it, scaring my little sister, and when I saw one of the cannons hit the bird, it dropped you. We saw you fall, and I was really worried that you might be seriously hurt so I came here to help! And I'm _not_ a pipsqueak or a bum!"

That last part he added more of as an after thought...the girl remained quiet and just stared at him for a minute, then let out a snort.

"That bird dropped me? Well that wasn't very nice of it." She stated sarcastically.

He opened his mouth to say something, but...then he heard a very strange noise. Two large birds (but nowhere near as large as the one that carried this girl) carrying these two..._things_...came swooping in.

They dropped the creatures, which growled and made strange noises at the two young ones, eventually charging up to them.

Link pulled out his sword; taking a stance that Orca has taught him since he was young. He noticed from the side of his eye, the girl pulled out a dagger and charged one of the creatures first.

One of them jumped out of her way and started to charge at him. But he was ready for it. He blinked though, amazed when he saw the girl jump up and kick the creature in the face and stab it in the head, only for it to..._burst_ into a puff of smoke.

_"What the heck?"_ Link thought to himself.

He didn't get time to let himself try to understand what he just saw, as the creature came at him.

It tried to punch him, but the boy ducked then smacked it in the hip with the side of his sword. It jumped up and down and growled at him as it rubbed its hip. Link couldn't help but feel a bit smug. The monster had no weapon, but Link had a sword.

He also felt himself grin a bit more when the girl turned, ready to fight off the other one, only to drop her arm to the side and stare in bewilderment as she watched him fight off the creature. Link smacked it in the chin with the hilt; he spun and slashed it twice. It burst into a puff of smoke just like the other one.

He grinned at the girl, and she just rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"Alright so you're not a bum...but you're still a pipsqueak." She smirked.

Link frowned.

"Am not!"

"So you got a name pipsqueak?" She asked him instead.

Link paused for a second, eying the girl with mild annoyance, he took a breath and forced a smile.

"My name is Link, what about you?"

"Tetra."

"Alright so Tetra, so why did that thing grab you?" He asked.

"How should I know? And even if I did, why should I tell you?" She closed one eye and grinned.

"Hey I came to help you! And I saved you from that fall too! A thank you would be nice!" The boy huffed.

She then had a rather weird smile on her face, and her eyes were half open as she approached him...she looked weirdly pretty and scary like that. How could one even accomplish that, Link was really not sure.

"Listen here pipsqueak, I'm a pirate, I can handle myself just fine. I don't need your help, it's not nice to talk back to a pirate, we're dangerous you know—something _bad _could happen." She got really close to his face, that dark smile never left her face.

Link couldn't help but gulp and blush at the same time. How could this girl be pretty and intimidating at the same time? He was so confused.

"I suppose I can spare you for now." She backed away.

"Huh?" He blinked.

"Don't go getting any ideas, the only reason you're forgiven for your rudeness is because you came to help me. I'll let it slide for now." She crossed her arms.

Link was even more confused, why was she looking at him like that? And what ideas was she talking about?

_"Girls are weird."_ He grumbled mentally.

Suddenly they heard that weird sound again, and four more of those birds with those monsters showed up!

The two of them got their defensive stance ready, except the birds dropped the monsters right on top of them. Link felt the wind knocked out of him as one of them punched him in the gut. He doubled over as one of them stepped on his head and started to laugh.

He heard the girl...Tetra...she was shouting and threatening them. Link managed to turn his head slightly under even the foot of the creature, to see the other two grab Tetra by both her arms and lift her off the ground, her feet dangling and kicking, struggling to get free.

Suddenly, the one that punched him in the gut earlier, which stood over to his left…it fell over dead!

"_W-What…how did, what's going on?!"_ Link thought.

He heard a sound like something that flew through the air, and the one that kept its foot firm on his head now fell over dead. He lifted his head to see the two had arrows in their backs, before they burst into a puff a smoke.

_"Who...who shot those arrows?"_ The boy looked up in the trees as he thought this but couldn't see a sign of a person.

The two monsters holding Tetra growled, furious their friends were killed, frantically looking around, while holding onto Tetra tighter...looking up into the trees.

Two more arrows flew in, striking them both in the neck, they fell over dead and their bodies burst into a puff of smoke just as the others have all before.

"What...just happened?" Tetra blinked as she reached down and picked up one of the arrows on the ground.

"Someone just saved us." Link picked up the other three arrows, as he scanned the trees around them again, looking for a sign of their rescuer.

* * *

Midna wasn't surprised that Link wanted to rush to help. He always did have a hero complex (not that it was a bad thing). But when it came to children, she noticed Link got especially angry and protective. The children from his village, that girl he'd been friends with since he was a kid, the young Zora prince...

It seemed Link had always been protective of those who were younger than him. So when he saw those monsters appear, and the boy was headed in there, where the girl was; she was honestly not surprised that she saw him run faster than she'd ever seen him run on foot before.

She urged Link to get somewhere and hide in the trees. He could stay hidden and snipe the monsters with his bow and arrow from up high, and it'd be easier that way because even stupid mindless monsters knew how to take a hostage if the opportunity arisen. He could take them out without the worry of one of those kids becoming a meat shield.

Plus she hoped they could just shadow the kids, but at this point there was no avoiding it. Link couldn't turn into a wolf; he couldn't just pretend to be an animal (plus those kids could confuse him for a monster like most people in Hyrule did). Whether he confronted them with his sword, or with his bow and arrows, those kids were going to end up seeing Link. She had hoped to avoid that.

But there was something she needed to see. She felt a sensation herself from that girl, and she felt it again just now the moment she laid eyes on the girl within Link's shadow.

It was a presence she recognized, an essence that now lived inside her. An essence that was the reason she could withstand living under the light.

That girl...she_ felt_ similar…to Princess Zelda.

Midna needed to know why.

The feelings she briefly had, the sensation Link briefly felt, were only hints that somehow this girl had the same aura as Zelda. But at their distance they wouldn't get a good enough confirmation. They would need to get closer, so it would seem one way or another; she had to let Link reveal himself to them.

She didn't want to. More people shouldn't have to get involved with her and Link than they already have. She would not allow another situation like with Princess Zelda to ever happen again.

She frowned from within the shadow. Originally, all she cared about was getting her revenge, saving her kingdom…saving her people from Zant.

Link, Princess Zelda...the people of the Light Realm…they didn't matter.

To her the Light Realm and their suffering was their responsibility to deal with, and the Twilight Realm was hers. But the two separate realms had become too intermingled thanks to Zant and his _"God"_.

Her realm suffered because of the Light Realm, and the Light Realm suffered because of the Twilight Realm.

The troubles of the Twilight Realm were just as much as Link's responsibility to do something, as the Light Realm was for her.

And to top it all off, Princess Zelda sacrificed herself to save her. Why did she go and do that?

She figured everything would have been okay. Link and Zelda could save the Light Realm...they could maybe save her people too hopefully. She knew she could trust them with that; she would have been content dying knowing they would save her people.

She'd seen how caring Link and Princess Zelda were, how far they'd go to help even strangers. She pretended to look down on them for it, but that was a lie. She couldn't let them see how much of a failure she was to her people. She wasn't nearly as noble as them.

Link traveled all across distant lands and took orders from a stranger, even put his trust in that stranger, if it meant saving his loved ones. He then put his needs aside to risk his own life on a daily basis to save all the people of his realm. Princess Zelda was put in a tough choice, either surrender and become Zant's prisoner, or all the people of her kingdom would die. Naturally Princess Zelda did what she had to preserve her people, and then to top it all off, she sacrificed herself to save the princess of the Twili.

Midna truly did admire them both and wishes to repay them for all they've done to help her. She swore to herself that she would.

She was going to help Link save his realm, just as he promised that he'd help her save hers.

But now they were in this different land, this different world. They had nothing to do with Link or Midna...they had nothing to do with Zant or the suffering in the plane of existence Link and Midna come from.

She didn't want her burdens to cause anyone else to suffer. Like it did with the Light Realm. Like it did with Link and all he cared about. Like it did with Princess Zelda.

"Here two of them come now." Link whispered, a welcome distraction from the Twilight princess's thoughts at that moment.

The young man pulled an arrow from his quiver and got his bow and arrow ready. However, Link ceased, as they watched the girl and the boy take down the two creatures that looked a lot like Bokoblins, on their own.

"Would you look at that, maybe they don't need you after all." Midna giggled from within his shadow.

"Hopefully..." Link said rather seriously, "There are still four more of them that haven't shown up yet."

"Well just keep your eyes sharp." Midna instructed.

"Yeah, yeah…you think I don't know that Midna?"

"Was that back sass? You are a terrible knight disrespecting your princess like that." Midna teased.

Link rolled his eyes and ignored her comment; Midna smirked and let out a quiet giggle within his shadow.

They watched the boy and girl interact, a little bit of arguing, mostly just the girl picking on the boy. Then it would seem the girl threatened the boy, Midna felt a bit amused, as the boy looked both frightened and attracted to the girl at the same time.

"How cute, I think he has a crush on her." She giggled.

She couldn't help but feel amused when Link rolled his eyes (again) at his shadow. Instead of responding to her comment, like previously, he ignored it and continued to keep his eyes peeled for the oncoming threat instead.

Midna observed that the girl then backed away and started that whole routine she'd seen before all too well from several young girls her age. The whole, _"I'm not interested in you, so you better not be interested in me_"...in other words totally in denial. Judging from the way she took to immediately picking on him like that combined with this now attitude...yep, this girl had to probably be developing a slight crush on the boy as well.

Needless to say she found this pair highly amusing to watch. If she weren't so keen on hiding out, she'd love to get the chance to tease them for it. Kids were always hilarious.

But that was the last thing she honestly cared about. She let out a sigh from within the shadow as she kept her eyes peeled as well.

On cue, the monsters showed up, and they did indeed overwhelm those children. Link wasted no time and shot one that punched the boy first. He then shot the one that had its foot firmly on his head next. The monsters burst into a puff of smoke, like the other two did earlier.

So...magic. Someone created these monsters.

Link pulled two arrows this time, shifted his position, making sure his aim was perfect. He released both arrows, and hit both the other two monsters with perfect precision, freeing the girl.

"Your aim has improved a lot." Midna smirked as she popped her head out of his shadow.

"Was that a compliment or an insult?" Link glanced down at her, sarcasm in his voice.

"My how rude, you think that little of me?" She teased.

"Hey! Who's out there?" The young girl cried out.

Link looked at Midna, obviously asking her for permission if he should reveal himself or stay hidden.

"Go on, but we aren't going to tell them our real story...not yet. Those two may be helpful for us figuring things out but we need to keep them in the dark for now—for their safety. Make something up for any questions they ask about your resemblance to the boy, maybe a distant relative if you have to, I really don't care. But while you go over to assess to make sure they aren't injured, Link I want you to pay close attention to your left hand and that birthmark on that hand—when you're near that girl. It could help confirm things for me, even as I'm checking a few things." Midna instructed.

Link nodded, and jumped out of the tree.

Link wasn't exactly an obedient little servant, he certainly did have a mind of his own, but working on the ranch and learning swordsmanship from Rusl has taught Link respect others in a position of authority, it would seem. Link originally begrudgingly did what she told him only because he had no other choice. But now it was from mutual respect. Link trusted her opinion and instructions, even if he didn't always agree with them.

It was amusing to watch the reaction from the boy and the girl, when they saw Link. The boy especially...

"So who is this, the more attractive older brother of yours?" The girl teased towards the boy.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?!" The boy huffed.

"Also is this something all the people on your island wear, or are you two just special?" She questioned the boy again.

"I've never seen him before!" The boy shouted back at the girl.

As Link approached the children, the boy eyed Midna's human companion with a mix of confusion and interest. The girl frowned, annoyed and clearly just wanted to know what the heck was going on.

Link knelt down to get at eye level with the boy and picked up the arrows from the boys hand, after shoving those three in his quiver, Link scooped up the boy's sword on the ground and handed it back to him.

The boy blinked a couple of times, and took it wordlessly from Link's hands, not taking his eyes off him. Clearly the boy was intrigued but for some reason couldn't bring himself to ask a question.

That's when Midna remembered from when she was in Link's shadow...the tale that everyone on this island knew from birth, like that woman told them. No doubt this boy grew up hearing it too, and he obviously knew Link wasn't from this tiny island. But seeing Link, wearing the garb and saved the two...she wondered if the boy somehow was mistaking Link for the hero in the story.

"You aren't hurt anywhere are you?" Link asked the young boy.

"Oh...um...no. I'm—I'm okay." The kid nodded a bit sheepishly.

"You were quite brave you know. Fighting off that monster like that with just that sword." Link ruffled the kid's hair.

Midna couldn't help but smile. It was cheesy yes, but even she had to admit it was sweet. Link really knew how to deal with children, it was no wonder the kids from Ordon adored him. Not only was he the "cool big kid" who could fight with swords, wrestles with goats and ride horses...but Link would give them the time of day, listen and talk to them. Comfort them when they were scared and inspired them to be brave.

"R-Really?" The boy appeared beyond flattered.

Link got up then walked to the girl, he raised his hand, the girl smacked it away, clearly didn't want any sympathy. Link just smiled at her but when he looked at his hand (and Midna from within his shadow), his birthmark was glowing again. Midna felt that sensation again.

Midna knew it, this girl had a connection to Zelda—or perhaps—_she_ was this world's version of Zelda?

Link shook it off though, and smiled at the girl again.

"Well, it's good to see you aren't hurt either—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

The girl handed Link the arrow she was holding, he smiled at her, she still gave him a stubborn little frown. Midna was both mildly confused yet highly entertained, if this was really this world's version of Zelda…? Well she honestly didn't know what to think compared to the elegant and refined wise woman they met...but the girl was certainly on the entertaining side to say at the least.

"So where did you come from, or are you the story-tale hero that always swoops in and saves the day last minute?" The girl added with sarcasm.

Link opened his mouth but the boy interjected.

"Are you the hero?!" He cried out.

"Excuse me?" Link turned to the boy.

"The Hero of Time, from the legends! I always thought they were just stories, but...I mean—"

Link held up his hand to halt the young boy in his tracks, as the older blond gave him an amused smile, and pat the boy on the head lightly before he shook his own head.

"No I don't think I'm the legendary hero you're thinking about." Link scratched the back of his neck with his other hand.

"But...I've never seen you before on this island, and that garment...I mean it's the same as—"

"Ah well yes...you see where I come from, we have a similar tale about the hero that you guys have here. But...well we didn't know much about him. I was only told a tale about a hero who did many heroic deeds and saved a kingdom wore clothes just like this. It wasn't until I came here that I heard more details about that legend." Link answered.

"Oh...I see." The boy said with slight disappointment.

Midna could tell the girl wasn't quite convinced, as she eyed Link with suspicion.

"So why do you look so much like pipsqueak here?" The stubborn girl inquired.

"Well like I said, we don't have much record of the legends of old where I'm from, I was instructed to go find any information of our lost history...I never grew up knowing my family, but I also hoped that one day, from my travels, that I might meet some relatives." Link answered her with a smile.

Link wasn't that well practiced at lying but he also had nerves that don't buckle easily, and it probably helped that he was sprinkling his lies with a lot of half truths, while letting the kids fill the dots with whatever theories they could come up with themselves.

They were all distracted when a new voice came running towards the entrance of this little wooded place at the top of the island, shouting on the top of their lungs.

"Miss Tetra! Miss Tetra!"

* * *

**Woohoo, Tetra! So now they have met, I wonder what will unfold next...well we'll just have to wait and find out and see!**

**I want to thank my beta editor coolman229 again for helping me out.**

**Thank you guys for reading, and don't forget to review :D**


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